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Pablo Cruise
Pablo Cruise live in Annapolis, MD 2023
Background information
Origin	San Francisco,California, United States
Genres	Soft rock,pop rock,yacht rock,jazz rock,
Years active	1973–1986, 1996–present
Labels	A&M
Members	David Jenkins Cory Lerios Steve Price Larry Antonino Robbie Wyckoff
Past members	Bud Cockrell Bruce Day John Pierce Angelo Rossi David Perper Stef Birnbaum Ken Emerson George Gabriel Sergio Gonzalez
Website	www.pablocruise.com

Pablo Cruise is an Americanpop/rock band fromSan Francisco currently composed ofDavid Jenkins (guitar andvocals),Cory Lerios (keyboards andvocals), Sergio Gonzalez (drums), Larry Antonino (bass andvocals), and Robbie Wyckoff (vocals andpercussion).^[1] Formed in 1973, the band released seven studio albums over the next decade, during which time five singles reached the top 25 of theBillboard Hot 100. The group underwent several personnel changes and split up in 1986. The original lineup—Jenkins, Lerios, Price andBud Cockrell—reunited briefly in 2004, and the group continues to tour today with three out of the original four members present.^[2]

Pablo Cruise began in San Francisco in 1973 with former members ofStoneground (Cory Lerios onkeyboards andvocals,David Jenkins asvocalist and onguitar andSteve Price on drums) andIt's a Beautiful Day (Bud Cockrell onbass andvocals).^[3] Lerios had formed a band, Together, while atPalo Alto High School. His classmate Steve Price signed on as a roadie (because he owned a van), then joined the group on drums when their drummer left. They were eventually to find their way into Stoneground, where they were joined by Jenkins (originally fromYpsilanti, Michigan).

Initially, many fans assumed that Pablo Cruise was the name of one of the members of the band. When asked the question, the band, which is a quartet, would answer, "He's the guy in the middle." When asked what Pablo Cruise meant, the band would say that "Pablo represents an honest, real, down-to-earth individual and Cruise depicts his fun-loving and easygoing attitude towards life."^[4] Casey Kasem claimed that the band's name originated with a drifter.^[5]

With the help of their new manager, Bob Brown (who would later steerHuey Lewis and the News to stardom), the band signed toA&M Records and released its first album in May 1975, a minor success self-titledPablo Cruise,^[6] and their second album in March 1976, titledLifeline.^[7] Their second album achieved slightly greater success than their first but still only managed to chart at No. 139 in theUnited States. The instrumental "Zero to Sixty in Five" fromLifeline was used as theme music for various sports television shows. That success encouraged the band to try their hand at more film and TV scoring.^[8]

1977'sA Place in the Sun was the turning point in the band's career as they finally entered the mainstream music scene with hit singles "Whatcha Gonna Do?" (No. 6)^[7] and the title track "A Place in the Sun" (No. 42), the album peaked at No. 19 on theBillboard 200.^[9]

In the middle of 1977,Bud Cockrell left to form a duo with his wife and formerIt's a Beautiful Day bandmate Pattie Santos and was replaced by Bruce Day (who had played in a band withCarlos Santana before hisSantana days).^[7]

Day's first album with the band was theRIAA platinum-selling 1978 albumWorlds Away, which spawned the hits "Love Will Find a Way" and "Don't Want to Live Without It".^[7][10] It also featured a cover of Australian singer-songwriterPeter Allen's hit single "I Go to Rio" and the follow-up album was 1979'sPart of the Game that spawned the hit "I Want You Tonight".^[10] Also that year, Pablo Cruise contributed the song "Reach For The Top" to the movieDreamer and the following year, they placed "What've You Got To Lose" with the filmInside Moves.

Day's tenure was short-lived and after he left the band in 1980, he was replaced by the session bassist John Pierce who, alongside newly added second guitarist Angelo Rossi (from the Cockrell & Santos band), debuted on the 1981 albumReflector,^[7] and it spawned the band's last Top 40 hit "Cool Love".^[10]

In mid-1981, Price left suddenly and was initially succeeded byDonny Baldwin, who had played withElvin Bishop and would move on toJefferson Starship by the summer of 1982.David Perper was next to take over the drum throne and Angelo Rossi was replaced by Stef Birnbaum (aka Stef Burns) after just one album.

In 1983 the group releasedOut of Our Hands,^[7] which featured a change of sound to a more "'80s pop keyboard direction" with Lerios bringing in moresynthesizers and downplaying thepiano, which had until then been a characteristic of the group's sound and Price played drums on two songs. The band then toured again that year with another new member, Jorge Bermudez, on vocals and percussion. Mostly due to the rising popularity ofnew wave, the album struggled with sales. But by the end of 1984, Pierce, Birnbaum, Perper and Bermudez had left and the group's contract with A&M had come to an end.

In 1985 the four original members, Jenkins, Lerios, Price and Cockrell, reunited hoping to score a new record deal.^[7] It was not to be, however, and the group called it quits in 1986.^[11]

Jenkins moved on to join country rockersSouthern Pacific in 1987, alongside formerDoobie Brothers membersKeith Knudsen andJohn McFee andCreedence Clearwater Revival bass playerStu Cook. After leaving Southern Pacific in 1989, Jenkins relocated toHawaii where he was introduced to Hawaiian artist Kapono Beamer and began writing music with him. This eventually led to their albumCruisin' On Hawaiian Time (2006), a collection of songs dedicated to the Hawaiian Islands.

In the meantime, Cory Lerios worked on movie and television scores, providing the music for the popular 1990s seriesBaywatch, among many others.

Around 1996, Jenkins and Cockrell reunited once again as Pablo Cruise, but Lerios and Price were unable to rejoin at the time. Keyboardist Kincaid Miller and drummer Kevin Wells (ex-Clover) were brought in to replace them, and percussionist James Henry also appeared with the band as an occasional special guest from 1999 to 2008. Additionally, second guitarist Kenny Emerson (replacing Stef Burns, who had briefly returned to the band in 1998) and two additional backup singers, Regina Espinoza and Carolyn, were also recruited (from 1999 to 2002) for added stage attraction. Drummer Billy Johnson (ex-Santana) frequently sat in for Wells during this same time.

Former bassist Bruce Day died on June 30, 1999, inWindsor, California, from unknown causes at the age of 48.

In June 2004 all four original Pablo members were back together playing again at Steve Price's wedding. This led to three of the four—Jenkins, Lerios and Price—deciding to reconvene permanently. Cockrell was not involved this time andGeorge Gabriel joined on bass and vocals. During his time away from Pablo Cruise, Price went on to become a leading figure in providingE-learning and also formed his own aerial photography company. Gabriel left Pablo Cruise in November 2009 and was replaced by veteran bassist Larry Antonino (who has worked withAir Supply,Jeff Beck,Ronnie Laws and many others) in 2010.

Bud Cockrell died on March 6, 2010, after complications from diabetes. He was 59.

On November 8, 2011 Pablo Cruise released their first live album,It's Good to Be Live, on the Red Recording label. The package included both a live CD and DVD. The live performances were taken from concerts performed at the Blue Goose inLoomis, CA on July 9 and 10, 2010. The CD also featured new versions of their songs "A Place in the Sun" (featuring fellow Red Recording artistKatrina) and "Love Will Find a Way" (withTy Taylor ofVintage Trouble).

In 2015 Cory Lerios released an EP,If I Could Change Anything It Would Be You!, under the name Cory Charles.

In 2017 the band was joined by singer/percussionist Robbie Wyckoff who had appeared withPink Floyd'sRoger Waters on hisThe Wall Live tour.

In February 2020 the band finished the Rock and Romance Cruise, which turned out to be their final shows for 2020. During theCOVID-19 lockdown, the band worked on a new single, "Breathe", viaSkype, with new drummer Sergio Gonzalez in place of Steve Price, who had retired from the group due to health issues.^[12]

The band resumed playing shows in the summer of 2021 and continues to tour, mainly in and around California.

In November of 2025 it was announced that drummer and founding member Steve Price had rejoined Pablo Cruise.^[13]

• David Jenkins – guitar, vocals (1973–1986, 1996–present)
• Cory Lerios – keyboards, synthesizers, vocals (1973–1986, 2004–present)
• Steve Price – drums, percussion (1973–1981, 2004–2020, 2025-present)
• Larry Antonino – bass, vocals (2010–present)
• Robbie Wyckoff – percussion, vocals (2017–present)

• Bud Cockrell – bass, vocals (1973–1977, 1985–1986, 1996–2004; died 2010)
• Bruce Day – bass, vocals (1977–1980; died 1999)
• John Pierce – bass, vocals (1980–1984)
• Angelo Rossi – guitar, vocals (1980–1983)
• Donny Baldwin – drums, percussion (1981–1982)
• David Perper – drums, percussion (1982–1984)
• Stef Birnbaum – guitar, vocals (1983–1984, 1998) (aka Stef Burns)
• Jorge Bermudez - vocals, percussion (1983–1984)
• Kincaid Miller - keyboards (1996–2004)
• Kevin Wells - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1996–2004)
• James Henry - percussion (touring substitute 1999–2008)
• Billy Johnson - drums, percussion (touring substitute 1999-2002)
• Kenny Emerson - guitar, vocals (1999-2002)
• Regina Espinoza - backup vocals (1999-2002)
• Carolyn - backup vocals (1999-2002)
• George Gabriel – bass, vocals (2004–2009)
• Sergio Gonzalez – drums, percussion (2020–2025)

• List of best-selling music artists

• Official website

• American pop rock music groups
• American soft rock music groups
• Musical groups established in 1973
• Musical groups disestablished in 1986
• Musical groups reestablished in 1996
• A&M Records artists
• Musical groups from San Francisco
• Musical quintets from California
• Musical quartets from California
• Yacht rock musicians

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